Review of Jumper (2008) by Kalev H — 20 Oct 2014

Jumper is a 2008 science fiction adventure action thriller film directed by Doug Liman, produced by Simon Kinberg, written by Kinberg, Jim Uhls, and David S. Goyer, based on the novel by Steven Gould, and starring Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Jamie Bell, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, Michael Rooker, Kristen Stewart, Annasophia Robb, and Max Thieriot.

A genetic abnormality allows David Rice (Hayden Christensen) to teleport himself anywhere on planet Earth. He discovers that this gift has existed for centuries and he finds himself in a war that has been raging for thousands of years between Jumpers and the Paladins, a group of religious extremists who have sworn to kill them because they see them as an abomination in the eyes of God.

I haven't read Steven Gould's sci-fi novel Jumper, so I can't judge this film as an adaptation. I can, however, judge it as a standalone film and it is less than stellar. Although it delivers the goods when it comes to the action sequences and the special effects, Jumper is a boring, generic, and middlingly-plotted sci-fi action film with bland performances and incredibly dull characters.

The acting is fifty-fifty. Samuel L. Jackson gives it his all as Roland Cox, the leader of the Paladins, but the character is just a boring, generic bad guy. However, Jackson helps keeping you awake with his good performance. Jamie Bell manages to be enjoyable as Griffin, a renegade Jumper who tracks down and eliminates the Paladins. Diane Lane and Michael Rooker are decent as the parents of the main protagonist, David. Unfortunately, Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson are so fucking bland as our leads. Christensen isn't as bad here as he was in Awake and Star Wars, but he still sucks anyway and he lacks charisma.

Doug Liman's direction is competent, although not as good as his work on The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow. The action scenes are very entertaining to watch thanks to the impressive special effects and the slick cinematography by Barry Peterson. The musical score by Liman's former go-to composer John Powell is pretty good, although not as good as some of Powell's other scores, like X-Men: The Last Stand and How to Train Your Dragon.

The screenplay by David S. Goyer, Simon Kinberg, and Jim Uhls is poorly written. Really, if they just stuck with Uhls' original script, we could've had a much better film on our hands. I mean, come on, the man wrote Fight Club for fuck's sake. Unfortunately, Doug Liman wanted re-writes, so 20th Century Fox hired Goyer and Kinberg to re-write the screenplay. Goyer and Kinberg aren't terrible screenwriters, but dear Lord, this script really could've used more improvement. The characters are underdeveloped, the dialogue is beyond generic, and the plotting is thinner than Kate Moss.

FINAL SCORE: 4/10.

Really, if anything, just watch Jumper as a simple little timewaster if you have absolutely nothing to do over the weekend. Jumper could've been a good film, but thanks to a poor script, uninvolving characters, a loose narrative, and bland acting from the two lead actors, it fails to deliver despite its entertaining action scenes and decent visuals. I don't recommend this film.